Kobe Bryant has hinted that next year will be his final season in the NBA. The Los Angeles Lakers star fully plans to play out the final year of his contract, but is not expecting to sign a new deal as retirement is potentially on the horizon. Bryant plans on making the most of that one remaining year with Los Angeles and will give everything he has to make the Lakers playoff contenders. However, Los Angeles has no plans on tailoring their free agency run to meet the needs of Bryant as the team keeps the bigger picture in mind.
Bryant has three consecutive season-ending injuries to his resume as he sits out the rest of the 2014-15 season following shoulder surgery. However, in an interview with Grantland's Bill Simmons and Jalen Rose, the star denied the rumors that he will officially retire at the end of the next season, saying, "No, it's not true. It's not true." Bryant is under contract through next season and is more focused on returning healthy for one more season rather than announcing his retirement.
Regardless of his decision, the Lakers do not plan on letting Bryant factor into who they sign in free agency. The Lakers will have a large amount of cap space to work with this upcoming summer, but are not going to sign veterans to short-term contracts just to build around Bryant for what might be his final season. General manager Mitch Kupchak made it clear the Lakers are focused on long-term rebuilding, not short-term success.
"At some point we have to start a new run, and that's definitely going to include Kobe next year," Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak said, via Baxter Holmes of ESPN.com. "To jeopardize the next five or seven years ... [by bringing] in old veterans that make a lot of money, just to win one more year, because that's Kobe's last year or could be his last year, I'm not sure that fits into doing it the right way." We're going to look to do this the right way, which is to try to make prudent decisions about youth and veterans and making commitments to players under the existing rules. I'd love to be able to put together a young team that can win 55 games next year, but it's not that easy. It's just not that easy. It's not off the table. It's our goal, but we want to make sure we do it the right way."
The Lakers plan on targeting big names next season as players like Carlos Boozer, Jeremy Lin and Steve Nash will not be back. Goran Dragic, Greg Monroe and LaMarcus Aldridge could all be options while Rajon Rondo and Kevin Love could be pulled away from their current teams. The Lakers are also eyeing Kevin Durant in 2016 along with every other team in the league. The Lakers want lasting success and are aware they need to rebuild a dynasty that Bryant was once the center of. Getting players in to carry the team once Bryant is gone has become a priority.